Healthcare Workers 4.5 Times More At Risk for Contact Dermatitis

Healthcare workers in the United Kingdom were 4.5 times more likely to manifest irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) in 2012 compared to 1996, according to a recent study.

This increase followed a national campaign to reduce healthcare-associated infections by focusing on improving hygiene procedures and hand washing.
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In order to evaluate whether this campaign coincided with the increased incidence of ICD, researchers evaluated reports that were voluntarily submitted by dermatologists to a national database from 1996 to 2012.

The researchers discovered that out of 7138 cases of ICD, 1796 were reported in healthcare workers. ^1,2 

Overall, healthcare workers were 4.5 times more likely to suffer from ICD in 2012 as in 1996, while incidence in all other professions stayed the same over that time period.

The investigators noted that the period of study included several campaigns for the prevention of the spread of healthcare associated infections like MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which emphasized frequent hand washing and the use of soap or alcohol rubs.

“Obviously we don’t want people to stop washing their hands, so more needs to be done to procure less irritating products and to implement practices to prevent and treat irritant contact dermatitis,” said Jill Stocks, MD. ¹

The complete study is published in the January issue of the British Journal of Dermatology.

-Michelle Canales

References:

1. University of Manchester. Hand washing focus in hospitals has led to rise in worker dermatitis. January 30, 2015. www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/article/?id=13861. Accessed February 12, 2015.

2. Stocks SJ, McNamee R, Turner S, et al. The impact of national level interventions to improve hygiene on the incidence of irritant contact dermatitis in healthcare workers: changes in incidence from 1996-2012 and interrupted times series analysis. BJD. 2015 February [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1111/bjd.13719.